[C320-list] Stuck Steering Wheel

[Ron Squires]

John,
Late to the conversation, but glad you found a solution. For those who may find themselves in a similar situation, this has worked on props.
Using a gear puller, put it in position and put a good amount of tension on it. Then putting aft tension on the wheel take a heavy hammer, preferably brass, and give puller jackscrew a solid hit directly in line with the axis of the screw. This works well with tapered shafts and should at least give that first budge to the wheel. Remember to protect the shaft threads.
Ron
_/) We cannot change the wind, but we can trim our sails.

> On Feb 16, 2018, at 8:12 PM, John Ellis <jr_ellis100 at hotmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Jeff - thank you for your advice. It worked!
> 
> I left the Ziplock ice bag on for over an hour to compensate for the San Diego winter ambient temperature. Then I tensioned the gear puller while warming the wheel hub with a heat gun. After about 10 minutes of heating and tapping the hub, and cranking the gear puller, the wheel came off.
> 
> I called Edson tech support this morning and the very helpful person I talked to said this job would require a lot of patience and would probably involve a lot of swearing!
> Since I don't do a lot of gear pulling, I used the Autozone tool loaner program. You give them a deposit (in this case $50), which they give you back when you return the tool.
> John
> ________________________________
> From: C320-list <c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com> on behalf of Jeff Hare <Catalina at thehares.com>
> Sent: Friday, February 16, 2018 8:39 AM
> To: C320-List at Catalina320.com
> Subject: Re: [C320-list] Stuck Steering Wheel
> 
> Hi John,
> 
> Hard to imagine a gear puller didn't work.  But, try again, this way.
> 
> 1. Wrap a ziplock baggie full of ice and a bit of saltwater around the hub
> to freeze the hub, shaft and key.
> 2. After 20 min or so put a decent sized gear puller on and crank it down
> quite tight, make sure the jaws are on the back side of the hub and aren't
> catching the large washer that is sometimes on the back side.
> 3. Take a mapp-pro or propane torch and gently and evenly heat the hub (try
> to avoid heating the shaft itself).
> 4. While doing that, very gently tap the hub between the spokes with a small
> steel hammer (don't dent it, just tap tap tap tap).  The vibrations, change
> in size from the heat and the pressure from the gear puller will cause it to
> break free.
> 
> This almost never fails.   Then polish the shaft and inside of the hub with
> 220 grit paper and coat it with TefGel anti-seize gel and forget about it.
> 
> -Jeff Hare
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: C320-list [mailto:c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com] On Behalf
> Of John Ellis
> Sent: Thursday, February 15, 2018 8:53 PM
> To: C320-List at Catalina320.com
> Subject: [C320-list] Stuck Steering Wheel
> 
> Does anyone have any tricks for removing the wheel when it's stuck? I'm
> replacing my autopilot and can't get the wheel to pull off. I tried a gear
> puller with no success. I've sprayed P Blaster into the keyway to let it
> work overnight and will try again tomorrow. Any suggestions would be very
> much appreciated!
> 
> John
> 
> #271 San Diego
> 
>